Aluminum cell reactance.



J. J.- FRANK. ALUMINUM CELL REAGTANGE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.2, 1909. I Y Patented Nov. 80, 1909.

VII!

Inventor John Jfran k, by iii b Witqesses:

JOHN J. FRANK, or

UNITED .sTArEs'rATE r OFFICE.

ALUMINuM CELL REACTAHCEJI f To all whom it concern:

Be it known that 1, OHN J; FRANK, a cat zen of the United-States, residing at Pittsfie'ld, county of Berkshire, State of'Massa- .chusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aluminum: Cell Reactances, of which the following is a specifi cation.

My; invention relates to the use of a plu ralityfof electrolytic condenser cells .which are connected inseries across the 'lines of a transmission system for the purpose'of protecting the line from lightning, and

said lines.

. The electrolytic condenser is now Well understoodiin the art and, therefore, only a brief description of the' same is, here re quired. It consists essentially of aluminum electrodes immersed in a suitableelectrolyte. Whenfagcell of this-kindis-included in an electriccircuit a thin film of aluminum oxid or-hydroxid forms on eachplate, which chokes back almost completelythe flow of cnrrentr lllhen connected to an alternating current c rcuit, the cell has a condenser action.f1The' resistance-of-the. film is limited to a certain c'r itical voltage. If this is exceeded its; resistance is broken down,and-

current of a potential in excess of'this breakdown voltage flows freely through the cell. The critica "or breakdown, voltage of the film is dependent upon the character of the electrolyte, thevolta e impressed on the cell,

and other;fa :tfors. has been found that when a plurality of such cells are connected series the-critical voltage will not be the same for each cell.=,It sometimes happens that the film of one .or more "cells of such a series will deteriorateto anextent so as to ceasefto take their share of the impressed.- voltage and -'will thereby throw an j excessive strain on the remaining cells. Theoverloading of theremaining cells may re sult in undue heating of one-or more of these cells, leading to a'furthe'r breakdown," until the effectiveness *of. the device"-as al" llli'rgeprotector or lightning arrester isde :AccOrding to my invention, Iconnectjthe i i maryhcoil. of a small transformer across 1 l ftrminals of each one of the condenser cells, of the jseriesl? flhe secondary coils of transformers are connected I in PITTSFIELD, 'MASSACHITSET'IS, nssrenon To qnN'EnnL ELECTRIC cor/renew, A CORPORATION onnnwyozax.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Nov. 30, 1909. Application filed February 2,1909. Serial-No. 475,580. I

multiple. With an arrangement of this kind when one of the/cells becomes unbalanced and .Will no longer do its share of the work,

the drop in voltage across its terminals is uriilformlydistributed among the remaining I If thefilmon one of the cells has for any reason. become deteriorated, instead of an "excessive. strainbeing thrown on one of the other'cells'inwhich the film is in better con- .di'tion than the rest, the transformer across the terminalsofthe cell with the good film receives the energy, and the voltage is distributed uniformly among all of the remaining cells. An increased current is furnished by the transformer connected across the unbalanced 'cell,"'tending to' repair its film and restore it to its normalcondition: The accompanying I The cel sconsist of glass jars l fpartly filled withelectrolyte,'above which I prefer to-place a layerof oil to preventpvaporation.

tolin'es 4:, 5. The-middle poi ht of the series is grounded .by conductor 6. Across the electrode of each cell is connected a trans former 7-,i"n this case a step-down transformer, the primary. coil being connected 'across the electrodes 2 The secondary coils of the transformers 'are all connected, in.

multiple. The size of the transformers and the ratio of transformation, of course, may be Varied Within wide limits; As a matter of illustration, I 'wkill state that with a transformer having its primary windings de- Anoth er adv'antage of using an individual .transformer for each cell isthat the cell with its transformer constitutes a unit which may be fctnrnectedito any number of cells already in-"use. The WlIGS connecting the transformers across t e cells may be short," makinglthe whole a angement more comrawing is a diagram, llustratin my invention.

The electrodes are aluminum plates. The cells are connected inseries by conductors 3,

" the end plates of the series being connected .80

signed for about 220 volts the secondary I W1nding" may be conveniently proportioned '-to furnlshi about five or ten volts. 1

ion.

coils each in inductive relation with one of .said coils, and a common electrical circuitm minum condenser cells connected in series,

and a plu rality of transformers each having one Winding connected across one" of said cells and another Winding connected in multiple with a Winding of each of the other transformers. I f The combination of aluminum con denser cells, a transformer for each of said sen le-5 cells, having a primary winding connected across the electrodes of its corresponding cell, a secondary winding for each of said is transformers, and a common multiple connection for all of the secondary windings.

' In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 30th day of January, 1909.

JOHN J. FRANK.

Witnesses P. A. SMITH, I F. G. LORAMER. 

